Riot victims find it hard to pick up the pieces

JAKARTA (JP): Rikwan, 57, spends all his days at home in a housing complex in Jelambar, West Jakarta.

He rarely plays with his seven new birds, including a bulbul and a starling, a gift from his lovely wife, who thought the gesture may appease the man, who was badly affected by last month's riots.

His wife keeps him company every day, trying to keep him busy and help him forget the recent past.

His three children, two of whom are married, can only watch their upset father from a distance.

The riots on May 13 that tore parts of the capital apart also destroyed the only livelihood the Chinese-Indonesian family had.

Their tiny kiosk, from which they sold cheap clocks and wristwatches in the city-run Pasar Pagi Perniagaan market center on Jl. Perniagaan (formerly known as Jl. Toko Tiga) in the busy Glodok district, was set on fire by the mobs.

Not one single thing could be salvaged. The looters took every item out of the four-meter-by-three-meter shop before they burned it down.

"Our family is badly hurt," his son Eddy Wijaya told The Jakarta Post yesterday in a bitter voice.

"The shop and all its contents...," he paused, then burst into tears.

Eddy, a manager of a food company, wept a few more seconds.

He finally said: "The business was built up by my father for over 30 years, since I was a small boy!"

According to Eddy, the loss of some Rp 100 million (US$9,000) might be peanuts to many.

"But not for us. We're not big entrepreneurs," he said.

"It was my father's pride and joy. It was our only source of livelihood," he explained.

His father, Rikwan, immigrated to Jakarta from the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin at the age of five. His brother brought him here in search for a better life.

When he grew up, he started a business as a street textile trader. After years of hard work, Rikwan bought his own shop and was able to finance his two sons' and daughter's university educations.

"Now, we no longer see him smile. He prefers to stay alone," said Eddy, who lives at home with his parents.

What made his father' blood boil was the local preman (hoodlums) in the market area. He had often been obliged to give them protection money and food, Eddy recalled.

"They were among the mob that broke down the shop door, grabbed the goods and set the place on fire," he said.

Eddy's brother, Handy, who witnessed the devastation of his family's shop, recalled that he hurriedly closed the store at 11:30 a.m. following rumors that several shops in the city had been set on fire.

He quickly took his motorcycle and parked it down a nearby narrow alley before returning to watch the shop.

"The mobs started to tear down the doors and windows of our shop, along with dozens of others at about 3 p.m.," Handy said.

"We could only watch hopelessly from a distance."

When informed about the incident, Rikwan -- who was at home at the time -- could not say a word.

In the evening, he was told by neighbors that a group of people would attack, loot and burn their housing complex, which is mostly occupied by Chinese-Indonesian families.

Frustrated, Rikwan got out of bed, picked a hoe as a weapon and told his neighbors he would stand guard to face the mobs.

"I'm already old. So let me handle these people. My shop has been damaged. I won't let them touch my house and family, they'll have to kill me first," Rikwan told his neighbors, who were stunned by his remarks.

That night, the residents twice became involved in heated arguments with outsiders, but no fights occurred.

Uncertain

Now, Rikwan's wife, children and grandchildren want him to stop dwelling on the past and start anew.

"We know it's not easy for him," Eddy said, "none of us have any idea what to do next."

During the May 13 to May 15 riots, the city and surrounding areas were shrouded in black smoke which had billowed from thousands of burning buildings set on fire by mobs.

The mobs not only looted and vandalized property. They also raped and sexually abused women and girls.

Most victims and owners of damaged property were Chinese- Indonesians.

A businesswoman told the Post how her pregnant relative in West Jakarta was gang raped during the unrest.

"She's still deeply stressed by it," she said.

Most victims have refused to speak to the press about their ordeal.

Their agony has been renewed by rumors of the city being rocked again by massive riots in the next few days.

Residents of some upmarket housing complexes in the capital have collected money to purchase defense equipment, such as barbed wire barricades, to protect their property.

The victims of the recent riots blame the city's security officers of doing nothing to protect them from the violent mobs.

During last month's riots, many housing complex residents hired uniformed security officers to stand guard at entrances to their complexes.

Poor treatment and uncertainty of the country's political and economic situation have forced many Chinese-Indonesian families to leave Indonesia. (bsr)